Rocky Dare of Salem, NJ, won the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Open Reining Championship Qualifier at the All American Quarter Horse Congress on Saturday, October 9. The competition in Columbus, OH, marked the first of four qualifying classes for the 2004/2005 Season.

Dare and Custom Pistol, a six-year-old Quarter Horse stallion owned by Steven Simon, received an impressive score of 220.5 to finish in the top spot. Second place went to Casey Hinton of Whitesboro, TX, on Curtise McCloy’s Bueno Starlight scoring 217 and third went to the legendary team of Bill Horn of Weatherford, TX, and Trashadeous owned by the Classic S. Ranch with 216. Dare received a check for $3,808, increasing his earnings to over $780,000 and Custom Pistol’s earnings to over $230,000. However, the victory at such a prestigious event meant much more to the 47 year-old Trainer.

“I am thrilled to death”, says Dare. “Anytime you win at an event as big as the Congress, it’s exciting. I knew I had a good enough horse to win, but to put it all together and have it work right is really cool.”

The USEF qualifying schedule continues in 2005 with the National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO to be held January 10; the Gordyville Breeders Cup, in Gifford, IL set to take place March 17-20 and the National Reining Breeders Classic, in Katy, TX scheduled for April 22-24. These three events hold added significance in that they will also be FEI International Reining competitions (CRI’s). The riders’ earnings from the CRI’s count towards the 2005 FEI World Reining Masters Series Final, in which the top two riders qualify to represent the United States. The Don Burt Award will also be featured in the qualifiers. The award is presented to the highest place finisher of the eligible riders in the USEF Reining Championship Final.

In order to compete in a USEF Reining Championship Qualifier, the rider must be listed on the 2004/2005 USEF Reining Long List and follow the 2005 USEF Reining Championship Qualifying Procedures. Riders who have shown in the qualifiers are then eligible to compete in the 2005 USEF Reining Championship.

For more information about the USEF Open Reining Championship and the qualifying classes, please call Jamie Saults, USEF Director of High Performance Reining at (908) 234-0848, ext. 40, or visit the website at www.usef.org.